Following the meetings, a Turkish official told the Hurriyet Daily News that both sides discussed further “cooperation and coordination.”

Over the past year, some Western nations criticized Turkey for not doing enough to stop foreign fighters from crossing its border and joining the Islamic State group, and Washington has been pressing Turkey to do more.

But it is a complicated situation for Turkey. While concerned with the Islamic State, Turkey, with a population of 14 million Kurds, is also fearful of an autonomous Kurdish region in bordering Syria and Iraq.

Despite the concerns, Turkey has decided to take some steps. It has recently deployed more troops along its border with Syria. Ankara has also put forward a plan to establish a “secure zone” on Syrian territory, but has made it clear that it will not act alone.

On Thursday, without going into detail on the two days of talks between the two countries, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby did acknowledge that Ankara is cooperating.

“What our focus on inside Syria is against ISIL- the Islamic state. That’s the focus of the coalition effort,” Mr. Kirby said during the daily press briefing. “And I’d like to remind everybody that Turkey is a part of that coalition, not just a NATO ally but a part of that coalition, and they’re contributing to the effort.”

Hurriyet Daily News reports that during the meeting Washington has asked for an access to Turkish airspace, as well as Turkish military bases, including Incirlik air base in southern Turkey. Ankara has demanded US assistance in creating a secure zone in return.

“An agreement [on the use of Incirlik] could be possible if we can agree on other terms as well,” an official told the Hurriyet Daily News.